发信人: roy_young(金陵二胡)
整理人: roy_young(2001-09-13 04:11:38), 站内信件
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●華人住在美國，日常生活裡不論是言談或閱讀，往往遇到一些容易弄錯的字眼。如果不加辨別，就會「似懂非懂」，甚至鬧出笑話。下面就是一些平時生活上常見的例子。
1. no standing 與 free-standing：no standing 意思是不准在此停車（即使司機還在車上也不行）也就是 "don't stop" 或 "no car at all"，通常用在大城市交通十分擁擠的地方。至於 "no parking"，意思也是不准在此停車，但司機還可以坐在車裡一段時間，必要時，可隨時移動車子，也就是 "You may stay in your car for a short period of time." 例如：
Walking along the street, I saw a "no standing" sign. (走在路上，我看到一個「不准停車」的路牌。)
In New York City there are many "no standing" signs (posted) on the streets. (在紐約市，路上有許多「不准停車」的牌子。)
"No parking" signs sprang up around the school campus. (校園裡出現一些「不准停車」的路牌)
spring up = appeared (動詞時態：spring, sprang, sprung) 也可以說：…… Signs were put up around ……（put up 是豎立的意思）但是 free-standing 是形容詞，意思是獨立式的，多指為特別用途而蓋的單獨建築物或指一大建築物的某種裝飾。(individual or separate building for a specific purpose) 例如：
There is a new free-standing restaurant near the downtown area. (在市中心區附近有座新的獨立餐館)
Mr. A built a free-standing shoe store behind the mall. (A先生在採購中心後面蓋了一棟獨立鞋店)
The free-standing design does not overpower the rest of the buildings surrounding it. (這種獨立式的設計，不會影響其他建築物的外觀。)
(overpower = distract 壓倒或擾亂)
2. break the house 與 housebreak：housebreak（動詞時態是：housebroke, housebroken）是指訓練狗、貓等寵物，使其能在指定的地點大、小便，以保持家裡的衛生（to train pets to live proper hygience at home）例如：
The dog（或cat）has been housebroken. 或
My dog is housebroken. (多半用被動語態)
但也有人用主動語態，例如：
He needs to housebreak his dog (cat).
Pet owners should housebreak their dogs and cats.（寵物主人應該訓練狗貓的衛生習慣。）或
Housebreaking is necessary for cats and dogs.
但是 "break the house" 是指破壞了房子。例如：
Accidentally, he broke the house by backing up his car. (他倒車時，意外碰壞了房子。) (broke = damaged) 或
The house was broken by a hurricane. (颱風破壞了房子。)
但用在賭場（casino）時，又指贏了一大筆錢（won lots of money）例如：
Mr. B broke the house at the casino.
然而：
The man broke into the house and stole some jewelry.（這裡的 broke into 是指用武力而偷竊 = robbed 或 burglarized）
3. kick off 與 tip off：kick off 意思是指任何事情的正式開始 (officially start or begin something) (有時也指球賽) 例如：
Our school has recently kicked off a mass fund-raising campaign. (我們學校最近發動一次大規模的籌款運動)
We will kick off the no-smoking drive. （我們將要發動戒菸運動）
They are going to kick off the football game tomorrow. (他們明天正式開始足球賽）
多半是用主動語態，有時也用被動。例如：
The fund-raising campaign was kicked off by a millionaire. (一位百萬富翁發起捐款運動)
但是，tip off 雖然也指開始，不過多半是指籃球開賽前，裁判開球讓兩邊球員跳球。(the beginning of official basketball game）例如：
The players tipped off the basketball game at 2:00 yesterday afternoon. (籃球賽於昨天下午兩點開始)
注意：to tip (someone) off 意思又是通知某人（to inform someone）例如：
I will tip him off about this breaking news. (我要告訴他最新消息) (breaking = latest)
(有時也用 tip off him about……)
4. block out 與 black out：to block out 意思是草擬大綱或訂出某種計畫 (to plan something ahead) 例如：
Her boss prefers her to block out her annual vacation time. (老闆要她訂出每年度假的時間)
I will have to block out a time for completing my dissertation.(我要訂出完成論文的時間)
但是 black out 的意思，多半是指停電 (no electricity) 例如：
There was a black out in our city yesterday. (昨天本市停電) (當名詞用)
California has experienced many black-outs this year. (今年加州有多次停電的經驗)(名詞多數)
I will voluntarily black out the lights in order to save money on my energy bill. (我為了省電費而自願關燈)(當動詞用)
5. off course 與 of course：off course 意思是偏離方向或越出指定的範圍。(out of line or in a wrong direction) 例如：
The ship was 20 miles off course. (船偏離航向廿英里)
He steers this young woman's life off course. (他誤導這位青年女子走上歧途)
The marathon runner was off course. (馬拉松跑者偏離了指定的路線) (not in the designated area)
She felt he was off course in learning English. (她覺得他學習英語偏離正確方向)
反之，「on course」就是正確方向(right direction) 例如：
Mr. Bush is trying to put this country's economy on course. (布希先生設法使美國經濟走上正軌)
但是「of course」意思是當然或自然 (as a matter of fact) 例如：
Of course, we will have turkey for Thanksgiving.
They, of course, are excellent students in my class. (他們當然是我班上最好的學生)
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